Archived Thread

Optimism Thread: Enter at your own discretion

Hello and good afternoon all BBI posters! This thread is intended for optimism that they Giants do have their issues... but upon analyzation of the team we can find hope!

So our beleved Giants are off to a bad start. Not just bad, but [i]terrible[i]. Now as alarming as this is, We all need to realize that the sky is not falling yet... In fact if we can look at the Giants, not as a fan, but as a fan of the NFL, we could be improving very soon.

I will not so brilliantly or originally point out that the offensive line on this team sucked on Sunday. There's no way to avoid this fact, but we can control how we look at the offensive line.

A lot of posters here will simply make the statement "the o-line sucks," but why does the o-line suck? I believe that a combination of injuries, on top of the veteran status of a majority of our o-line, all on-top of the point that most of our starters are injured and David Bass hasn't even seen the field.

When you add the Carolina Panthers into the equation, as we saw last Sunday, with their impressive defensive line, you get 38-0. With zero protection, Eli couldn't do anything, there was no run blocking, and the defense played well until it became exhausted and began lacking morale somewhere in the 2nd quarter.

This is the case for all of the games this season, for the most part the defense comes out of the gate very strong (limiting arguably the best offense in the league vs Denver to only 10 points at the half. Then, in the second half, the offense could not get any scoring production because of the offensive line, and eventually folded like and NFL defense will.

Our defense is not a wash like many on this board would like to think. Yes, linebackers are a weakness right now, but when this team has Corey Webster, our secondary is above average and the defensive line (though it is not the pass-rushing threat of years past) is still solid against the run, helping our faulty linebacking corps. So in essence, our defense isnít great, but it isnít bad either. You can point at statistics that we have given up x amount of points in y quarters, but if you fail to see that it is a direct result of the offense. [i]The 2013 New York Giants are ranked 30th in the league in time of possession, only in front of Buffalo and Philadelphia. [i] So donít go so hard on our defense.

So basically, our hurt offensive line is the leading domino in our losses. There will be no relief this Sunday, as Kansas City is currently ranked #1 in sack percentage and sacks per game. So I fully expect Sunday to be just as rough as last weekÖ About 95% of me sees us losing to Kansas City by a lot.

This is where the optimism kicks in though! If our offensive line can get healthier by our home game vs the Eagles the next week, I can see us gathering momentum and going on to beat the Bears, Vikings, Eagles again, and Raiders. This part of the schedule makes it possible for us to build a 5-4 record, heading into a big prime time match up vs. the Packers. This is optimistic, but not totally unrealistic. Our division isn't exactly tearing up the NFL right now, so this only helps our odds down the road.

I agree with your assessment of the d. Baring injuries and a return to form from JPP the d could improve a lot. The d would look a lot better too if it was on the field less and not frequently starting close to their own endzone.

You may have meant Diehl. Baas has played and looked bad (although hurt).

Call me crazy but I think the oline can improve to a level of below-average (last week was way way way below-average) play and that will be enough for Eli and the WRs to carry the offense.

For me, it's simple. Win on Sunday and we're alive and our season lives to see another week or two (and hopefully more). Another loss and we're about 5'11" underground.

I'm honestly at a loss for what to expect from this team. I could see anything happening from a 2-3 score win, a close, hard fought win, a close, hard fought loss (which would probably suck the most) or just another absolute demolishing where we're never in the game.

I just don't want this fucking season to be over before October. It has been a full decade since we've had to deal with something like that. And it was a lot easier back then when we had no QB and we just knew the team sucked ass. It's a LOT harder to see a team like this completely just fail out of the gates without ever having any chance to be in the mix or even in the discussion for the playoffs later on.

If we ultimately don't make the playoffs, whatever.. I can handle it. But the prospect of watching Giant football games that almost don't even matter at all anymore before freakin' Halloween is just something I don't want to deal with. From the day last season ended, I couldn't wait to start this one and now it's almost over before it even began.

This team has to get it together on Sunday and find a way to win. I don't care how it happens.. just do it. It's Alex fucking Smith.

...I wondered whether that 2011 run was the last for this core group or are we set up for a few more years. After 2011, I used the analogy that I think we may have squeezed the last bit of toothpaste from the tube. By Thanksgiving 2012, I was swayed and thought this group had another run in them.

Now we are at 0-3.

The difficult part of this is that is was unforseen. "On paper", Jerry Reese's plan indicated that this is a "win now" team...but is it? Are we just throwing paint on a house that has a rotten infrastructure?

So I guess the positives I would try to look for is who is going to play through this adversity. Are they going to mail it in, or are they going to scratch and claw? I'll always remember a game the Giants played in Seattle where they were getting blown out and Antonio Pierce in the 2nd half was still giving 100 percent.

I am confident that the Giants will address the flaws. Another issue that might be making this difficult is talk radio and Jets fans reaction. The media dumped on them the entire off season and now with the Giants at 0-3, you get a lot of Jetrosexual fans, arms up in angst, saying what about them (Giants). The NFL network actually ran a headline "Giants now Jets of New York"

This is a positive thread so now let's see how the Giants handle this adversity. I love this team and never want to give up on them. Maybe this punch to the face wakes them the f up. If this season isn't to be, we (more importantly the front office) could start to see who is easy to cut and who earned the right to stay. Giants vs Seahawks 2006 - ( New Window )

The team can't practice together as much and we have had a lot of our roster turn over. You want to work these young guys into the mix but there isn't enough time.
I would like to see the % of turnover a team like the Bengals had compared to us, I bet it isn't even close.
2-3 weeks from now we could be hitting our stride but I hope it isn't to late.

While we got killed 38-0 last week and saw many problems, the difference between winning and losing in the NFL is typically not much. Get a few small things going your way and the whole picture can change quickly.

O-line has got to man up and get some space for the RBs and Eli, Gilbride has got to call some plays that slow down the opposing pash rush, and the defense needs to get just a few key stops here and there.

Add in a broken tackle by Cruz for a big play and a fumble recovery by Rolle and we will have a well earned 24-20 victory against KC.

Wow, that's a total shock. I went to the 2007 Vikes 41-17 drubbing in which Eli threw 3 pick-6s & 1 more INT. If the Giants could recover from that debacle to win the SB, anything is possible with the team. The Giants have been in 2 of 3 games well into the 2nd half. If they'd gotten completely blown out in all 3 I'd have a shitload less reason to be optimistic.

the Giants were going in the right direction.....they canned high price players like Canty, Boley, Bradshaw.....but they should have kept going, but were throttled by the CAP....

We hoped once again, that Tuck would return to form.....we hoped Kiwi would make us forget Osi....we possibly forced JPP back too soon....we counted on a rookie who had a good game against scrubs and has not been seen since...

We counted on Brown, even though we know he is injury prone, and had no backup plan, when he went down, and then Wilson screwed up......

We counted on an often injured/average center in Baas....we counted on Diehl, even though his play had fallen off.....we counted on Snee, who like Baas, was getting injured and have his play fall off, also.....

We counted on too many guys to have good years, even though the signs were there, that they wouldn't....our draft picks have not produced the starters to take their places....

Now the injuries are piling up, and it won't be long before we are scouting the streets looking for bodies....

...is where it has to start. The DLine has to pressure,the DEnds have to fight off blocks and create plays - we have healthy players,very good players,in these positions THEY HAVE TO MAKE PLAYS. The defensive woes will fade with their execution. The OLine is another story. Who is healthy and where are the younger people factoring in. Beatty had a BAD week. Baas looks to be out so Boothe slides into the center slot. The Giants are now speculating that Diehl will be ready and will play at LG. Snee hasn't practiced - Cordle,Brewer and McCants are taking many reps in practice in anticipation of Snees' absence. Diehl has been away from the practice field for weeks - why not insert Brewer at LG and if it doesn't work out go to Diehl. I am hoping Snee plays,but he needs to take plays off to stay fresh. With the injuries Cordle,Brewer or Pugh could provide that - get McCants some snaps at RT. I know that it's not a solid cohesive unit but we have to start looking to the future along the OLine if we want Eli to remain at QB for a few more years and allow David Wilson to become a feature NFL RB. We need the younger guys to play along that OLine - It's time. Our staff is too good for this team to fall flat on its' face for a full season - They WILL have answers,but I still feel that we need to address the OLine revamping now.

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